Cavan Gaels is a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

club from

Cavan Town Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Ballys ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. They are affiliated to

Cavan GAA The Cavan County Board ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae an Chabháin) or Cavan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in Count ...

. The club was founded in 1957 following the merging of two clubs in Cavan Town, Cavan Harps and Cavan Slashers. They are the second most successful team in

history, with 14 Senior Championship titles, the most recent being in 2017. Cavan Gaels appeared in 16 of the 20

Cavan Senior Football Championship The Cavan Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Cavan Gaelic football clubs. It was first competed for in 1888. The winners get the Oliver Plunkett Cup and qualifies to represent t ...

finals between 1998 and 2017 - winning 10.

History

The club was founded in 1957 in

after the merging of 2 clubs in the town, Cavan Slashers and Cavan Harps. The name Cavan Gaels was first suggested by Hugh Doonan, the father of the 2003

winning captain James Doonan. A year after their foundation, they lost the

to Crosserlough 3-07 to 3-04. They won their first Cavan Senior Football Championship in 1965, beating Baileborough Celtic. They lost their next two finals both to Crosserlough in 1968 and 1972. In 1975, they regained the Oliver Plunkett Cup beating rivals Crosserlough; They won it again in 1977 and 1981, beating St. Mary's and Ballyhaise, their last for 23 years. They lost the 1984 final to Laragh United, the 1997 final to

Mullahoran Mullahoran ( ga, Mhullach Odhráin – Hilltop of Odhrán) is a townland in southern County Cavan, bordering County Longford, Ireland. It is also the name of a Roman Catholic parish. It is a constituent part of the electoral division and civil ...

and the 2001 final to Gowna 2-10 to 0-11. The Gaels then appeared in every final from 2000 to 2011. They won 8 Cavan Senior Football Championship winning two trebles (2003-2005 and 2007-2009). After defeat to Gowna in 2000, they won the following year beating Gowna 0-18 to 0-07. In 2002, they lost again to Gowna. In 2003, 2004 and 2005, they beat Mullahoran before being beaten by Mullahoran in 2006. In 2007, the Gaels beat Gowna 0-12 to 0-11, the first of another treble. In 2008 and 2009, they beat Denn GFC 0-12 to 0-11 and 1-10 to 1-11. They lost to Kingscourt Stars in 2010 1-10 to 1-09 but regained the title in 2011 beating Castlerahan 1-14 to 1-12. Their largest winning margin in a Cavan Senior Football Championship final. Their run of consecutive final appearances was ended in 2012 when they were beaten in the quarter-final stages by

Killygarry Killygarry are a Gaelic football club from County Cavan in Ireland. They are affiliated to Cavan GAA. History The Killygarry club area as it now stands had a football club down the years before the formation of the present club in 1966 but t ...

Ballinagh GAA Ballinagh is a Gaelic football club based in Ballinagh, County Cavan, Ireland. History The club was founded in 1888. The club reached the final of the Senior Championship in 1961 and 1986, but came up short on both occasions. After winning t ...

beat the Gaels in the 2013

, before finally regaining the championship against Kingscourt Stars in 2014.

Club crest

The club crest came into existence in 1984 when all clubs in the country were asked as part of the GAA's centenary year to design their own club crest. Central to the crest is the Fransciscan Abbey, a landmark in Cavan Town and the interlocking of the letters H and S which illustrate the merging of the two existing town clubs, Cavan Harps and Cavan Slashers into one town club, Cavan Gaels in 1957.

Notable people

Gaels players to have played on the senior Cavan county team include Martin Dunne, Luke Fortune,

Seánie Johnston Seánie Johnston is an Irish Gaelic footballer. A former player with the Cavan county team and Cavan Gaels.Recently Managed Cavan GAA Club Cúchulainn's GFC (Cavan) in the ACFL Division Two for the 2021 season.In 2022,Johnston took up a c ...

Micheál Lyng Micheál Lyng (born 7 February 1985) is a Gaelic footballer from Cavan. He plays for the Cavan Gaels club and, formerly, the Cavan county team. He lines out as a centre-forward. Playing career Club Lyng played underage for Crosserlough up ...

and Niall Murray. Former player and club member Micheal Graham managed the senior county team to a Tailteann Cup final. Brian Crowe, who refereed the 2006 All-Ireland SFC final, is also a club member.

Achievements

: 14 ** 1965, 1975, 1977, 1978, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Cavan Senior Hurling Championship The Cavan Senior Hurling Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top hurling clubs in Cavan. The winners of the Cavan Championship qualify to represent their county in the Ulster Club Championship, the wi ...

: 5 ** 1973, 1974, 1983, 1984 & 1985 *

Cavan Intermediate Football Championship The Cavan Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the middle-tier Gaelic football clubs organised by Cavan GAA. It was first competed for in 1915, before a lapse prior to being revived in 1 ...

: 1 ** 1976 *

Cavan Under-21 Football Championship The Cavan Under-20 Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisatio ...

: 5 ** 2000, 2001, 2004, 2012 & 2016 *

Cavan Minor Football Championship The Cavan Minor Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between Minor Cavan Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Ir ...

: 18 ** 1967, 1968, 1978, 1987, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2023.

References

External links

Cavan Gaels Official WebsiteOfficial Cavan GAA Website
{{Cavan Senior Football Championship Gaelic games clubs in County Cavan Gaelic football clubs in County Cavan Hurling clubs in County Cavan